Herbert Smith Freehills
Spotlight
Herbert Smith Freehills – Elevate your ambition
We’re a leading, full-service, global law firm working on some of the world’s biggest cases and deals at the forefront of the world’s most exciting sectors. With an award-winning depth of expertise across a wide variety of sectors, geographies and legal specialisms, you don’t just watch from the side lines here, you hit the ground running, make a difference and tackle the important issues.
By combining perspectives and potential from diverse backgrounds, we offer our clients pioneering solutions. With our innovative and inclusive culture, we’re building a reputation for excellence across legal disciplines, business sectors and continents. Our progressive approach allows us to continually break new ground; whether it’s a complex international dispute or a billion-pound, cross-border deal. Every day, there’ll be new situations, new experiences and new skills to learn and apply.
Statistics and facts
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| Practice Areas |
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| Head quarters | London |
| Number of Offices | 26 |
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| Location of Major International Offices |
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| No of Partners | 161 in the UK , 489 globally |
| No of Lawyers | 517 |
| Average Trainee Salary | £50,000 |
| NQ Salary | £105,000 base salary |
Training Contracts
2021/22 HSF Trainee Associate Programme Salary: £50,000 per annum for first year trainees; £55,000 per annum for second year trainees; and £105,000 base salary for NQ lawyers Entry criteria: Must complete a HSF vacation scheme Location: London
Elevate your Ambition We want our Trainee Associates to develop into the Herbert Smith Freehills Partners of the future and we aim to retain as many of our Trainee Associates as possible on qualification. Our Trainee Associate Programme offers four six-month seats. We are one of the few firms who allow you to select your seat preferences ahead of each rotation, allowing you to tailor your Trainee Associate Programme as your interests develop. We only recruit our future trainees from our Vacation Schemes where students are assessed by their supervisors and also given an assessed piece of work by their supervisors in each of the two seats. We look at a combination of those things when making offers on our Trainee Associate Programme. Who are Herbert Smith Freehills? Join us and you’ll be involved in high-profile cases, high-impact deals and prestigious client relationships – making a difference and tackling the big issues. You’ll get involved in new situations and experiences and discover new skills to learn and apply. We are a leading, full-service, global law firm working on some of the world’s biggest cases and deals at the forefront of the world’s most exciting sectors. With an award-winning depth of expertise across a wide variety of sectors, geographies and legal specialisms, we are the place to elevate your ambition. What are the benefits?
Why join? DIVERSE As well as ensuring we recruit from a range of backgrounds, we take a roughly equal split of law and non-law students. This diversity of experience and perspectives allows us to develop creative solutions to our clients’ problems. CHALLENGING To ensure our Trainee Associates are given the best opportunities to develop the skills they need to become a successful lawyer, we have created the Trainee Associate Programme. Through our Business Skills Academy, Trainee Associates will be equipped with the business knowledge, skills and mindset they need to work on the biggest matters and deals with our clients across the globe. You’ll undertake over 128 hours of structured learning and development, from interactive workshops to Professional Skills Course training. A partner will mentor you as you progress through your training contract, and in each seat you’ll share your office with either a Senior Associate or a Partner who’s committed to supporting your personal and professional development. PROGRESSIVE If you’re keen to develop client relationship skills and business growth strategies, you can join our entrepreneurial Trainee Business Development Committee (TBDC). The TBDC is a trainee-run initiative that empowers trainees to contribute to our business development strategies through networking with clients and building business development skills. You’ll get the opportunity to submit seat preferences before every rotation, including before your first seat, enabling you to tailor your training contract to your specific interests. You can also discuss your preferences with our dedicated trainee HR team. GLOBAL Over 84% of our trainees go on either a client or an international secondment. There are also opportunities to qualify into one of our international offices.
What we look for Personal leadership Demonstrate an interest in client relationships and how you would go about building on these. You should also be able to demonstrate good active listening skills and persuasive skills to gain support for ideas. Technical capability As well as considered reasoning and a desire to learn, using initiative is a key skill for a trainee. Think about how you would seek out new opportunities in order to gain a deeper understanding of the role. Intellectual capability Academic excellence should be demonstrated through degree classification. Whilst a minimum of a 2:1 is preferred, we take mitigating circumstances into account. There is space on the application form to include these details which are taken into consideration throughout the application process. Contributions to the team’s success Communication skills are critical for trainees, think about examples where you have been able to bring about positive outcomes by communicating and collaborating with colleagues. Working styles Students can demonstrate this competency by giving examples of organisational skills and showing that they are able to cope well under pressure. Motivation for a career in law at Herbert Smith Freehills Think about why you have chosen to pursue a career in commercial law, and why Herbert Smith Freehills in particular. How do I apply? We only recruit our future Trainee Associates from our Vacation Schemes where students are assessed by their supervisors and also given an assessed piece of work by their supervisors in each of the two seats. We look at a combination of those things when making offers. These schemes have been specifically designed to build and test the unique combination of skills and potential required to succeed at Herbert Smith Freehills. It’s really important to us that you have the combination of skills and potential that we’re looking for: it will enable you to become a better lawyer, build stronger connections with our team and hit the ground running when you start your career here. It’s a two-way process. The scheme gives you the chance to get to know us and see what life for you would be like at Herbert Smith Freehills before you make a decision about your career. For those who are unable to attend a vacation scheme, please get in touch with Aveer Pnag ([email protected]) to discuss your individual circumstances, which we will consider on a case-by-case basis. Find out more here. | |
| No of Trainees / Yr | 134 |
| Average Retention Rates | 71% |
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| Degree class | 2:1, but we take mitigating circumstances into consideration |
| A levels | BBB |
| Sponsorship - LPC | Yes |
| Sponsorship - GDL | Yes |
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| Vacation Scheme Requirement? |
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| Number of Seats | 4 |
Current Opportunities
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Vacation Schemes
Elevate your ambition. It’s never too early to take control of your career. Join us on the Herbert Smith Freehills spring vacation scheme and start today. Explore our firm for yourself, build your connections and find your vocation, with hands-on training from leading lawyers. You won’t be watching from the side lines here. You’ll hit the ground running, taking on real work for real clients. You’ll work directly with colleagues who are experts in their fields, and happy to share what they know. You’ll get to choose your two seats so your experience is tailored to you. And you’ll have a trainee buddy at every step to support you. Who are Herbert Smith Freehills? We’re a leading, full-service, global law firm working on some of the world’s biggest cases and deals at the forefront of the world’s most exciting sectors. With an award-winning depth of expertise across a wide variety of sectors, geographies and legal specialisms, you don’t just watch from the side lines here, you hit the ground running, make a difference and tackle the important issues. By combining perspectives and potential from diverse backgrounds, we offer our clients pioneering solutions. With our innovative and inclusive culture, we’re building a reputation for excellence across legal disciplines, business sectors and continents. Our progressive approach allows us to continually break new ground; whether it’s a complex international dispute or a billion-pound, cross-border deal. You’ll get involved in new situations and experiences and discover new skills to learn and apply. What are the benefits?
What will I be doing? Our vacation schemes immerse you in our work, networks and the international world of law. Key features:
What we look for Personal leadership You need to demonstrate an interest in client relationships and how you would go about building on these. You should also be able to show us good active listening skills and persuasive skills to gain support for ideas. Technical capability As well as considered reasoning and a desire to learn, using initiative is a key skill for a trainee. Think about how you would seek out new opportunities in order to gain a deeper understanding of the role. Intellectual capability Academic excellence should be demonstrated through degree classification. While a minimum of a 2:1 is preferred, we take mitigating circumstances into account. There’s space on the application form to include these details and they will be taken into consideration throughout the application process. Contributions to the team’s success Communication skills are critical for trainees, think about examples where you’ve been able to bring about positive outcomes by communicating and collaborating with colleagues. Working styles You can demonstrate your working style by giving examples of organisational skills and showing that you’re able to cope well under pressure. Motivation for a career in law at the firm Think about why you’ve chosen to pursue a career in commercial law, and why Herbert Smith Freehills in particular. We only recruit our future trainees from our vacation schemes and students are assessed by their supervisors and given an assessed piece of work in each of the two seats. When making our decision, we look at a combination of those things. Our vacation schemes have been specifically designed to build and test the unique combination of skills and potential required to succeed at Herbert Smith Freehills. It’s really important to us that you have the combination of skills and potential that we’re looking for: it will enable you to become a better lawyer, build stronger connections with our team and hit the ground running when you start your career here. It’s a two-way process. The scheme gives you the chance to get to know us and see what life at Herbert Smith Freehills would be like before you make a decision about your career. For those who are unable to attend a vacation scheme, please get in touch with Aveer Pnag at [email protected] to discuss your individual circumstances, which we will consider on a case-by-case basis. Key dates Spring
Summer
Elevate your ambition. | |
| No of Vacation Schemes / yr | 100 |
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| Degree class | Academic excellence should be demonstrated through degree classification. Whilst a minimum of a 2:1 is preferred, we take mitigating circumstances into account. There is space on the application form to include these details which are taken into consideration throughout the application process. |
| A levels | BBB |
| Training Contract Interview included? | Yes |
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Open Days
| Number of Open Days | 3 |
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Diversity Opportunities
ROGER LEYLAND MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP Applications open: 1 October 2021 – 31 January 2022 Roger Leyland was a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills until his death in October 1996 at the young age of 43. He was the first black partner at a leading City firm and chaired The College of Law’s ethnic minority subcommittee. Roger was deeply committed to supporting the development of young lawyers, including sitting as a governor on the Council of the College of Law. The Roger Leyland Memorial Scholarship was developed by Rare Recruitment and Herbert Smith Freehills to provide financial support and work experience to exceptional black and minority ethnic students. Applicants should be in their first year of a three-year course or second year of a four-year course and must be a Rare candidate in order to apply. Benefits of being a Roger Leyland Memorial Scholar include:
Elevate your ambition. Now close to applications. | |
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Other Opportunities
Please see our other opportunities: |
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